Plane crash in Smolensk, Russia

This note is a bit off-topic, but being Polish I just could not leave it without any comment.

The air-plane crash in Smolensk, Russia with top Polish politicians, army representatives and many other respected people is a big tragedy. The reaction of the political leaders from all over the world sending words of sympathy is consolatory - Poles are not alone during those sad days.

I also think that the reaction of Russia and Belarus when it comes to visa policy for relatives and other people to investigate the reasons of the crash means more than political discussions on the top level. Visa's for relatives and investigators will be given without much formalities, queuing and fees. I think that for those families this gesture means more than million words and contributes significantly to improvement of Polish-Russian relations. I hope that this unfortunate event will be a lesson for both sides and a big step forward to improve relations between Russia and Poland.

Words of sympathy are coming from so many countries, so many newspapers are describing people who died yesterday. Political divisions disappear. It is good to see that in the face of such a tragic event people, nations, and countries are supportive towards each others. This makes me believe that we still didn't fail as a human race. The sad part is - why can we sympathise and cooperate flawlessly only when such a tragedy takes place? Why can't we be the best of our human being nature in normal circumstances as well?

About saving money

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Olympic games Vancouver 2010

Today shortly about pros and cons of the olympic games.

Pros:
1. Each time Finland wins medal there is pulla (typical Finnish sweet roll) in the kitchen at work to enjoy during coffee break. (Yeees, they made it! Finnish ice hockey team won bronze medal!!! Pulla will be served again on Monday!)
2. Whenever Finnish ice - hockey team won my workmates seemed to be happier, more cheerful and friendlier.

Cons (one found only):
1. I will not be waken up by my neighbours shouting from excitation at 6 a.m. Yes - afternoon matches in Vancouver mean early morning hours in Finland...

Big congratulations for all Finnish medal winners!

Tough morning, iced water and hot discussion

Being an eager worker I wanted to join professional training. My boss agreed and this way once a month I participate in a training session.

For today's training I needed a lift so the day before I asked my boss to pick me up in the morning. I arrived at agreed place just in time. Looked around - boss not here yet. Checked my mobile - he tried to call. So I called back: he was late, would be there in 3 minutes. OK. It is -20 Celsius degrees, 3 min probably means 5-10 min. OK, maybe I can take it even if I am not dressed properly. 5min gone, 10min gone... boss arrived 20 min after the call. I have almost frozen my bottom off. Maybe I should have it frozen off totally since the bottom seems to be bigger during this winter.

Anyway - we have finally reached the destination. First break - possible only in Finland: we were served iced water when it is -20 outside...

It turned out that cold water was of use, since a bit later we have had a great, lively discussion and something to cool down was needed. I actually couldn't believe my ears - Finns discussing lively and interrupting each others. Amazing... On the other hand that was exactly what the instructor has asked :)

After the training I had my figure skating lesson so I could relax my brain and this time I managed not to fall.

Fun at work: about English in use and sex equality

I have to admit that since my company stopped using outsourced switchboard we are receiving curious phone calls. Some of them are just irritating but some of them provide a good laugh. My favourite ones recently:

Scene number one
The guy who called: Hyvää päivää, soitan... (A guy introducing himself in Finnish)
me: Aneeksi, en puhuu suomea (Sorry I don't speak Finnish)
the guy with an effort in English: Do... you ... speak English?
me: Yes
the guy: My name is X Y and I call from company Z. (quite smoothly until this point). Do you... er...umm... yyyy.... (thinking intensively)... Who is... er.... mmm... yyyyy.... er..... umm...... (thinking even more intensively).... umm... err... GOOD BUY!

Scene number two (my colleague answered)
Colleague: Good morning
Caller: Can I talk to the sales manager?
Colleague: Yes, it is Mss Magda X.
Caller: No, I want to talk with male manager.
Colleague: What's wrong with female manager?
Caller: beep... beep... (hung up)

Google street view

Today my friend reminded me about the Google street view. I know it is not very new invention. What surprised me is that actually quite a big part of Finland has been pictured by Google guys. If you would like to see a bit of Finland I really recommend this tool :)
On the other hand, the pictures are so close to the areas where people live that it makes a little red light starts to glow in my head - how much further technology will start to enter our private sphere? The street view reminds me a bit of Big Brother - scary!
Anyway I am not paranoid or anything, not yet at least. And that is why I can share with you this view for example. Not a big deal but I hope you enjoy it! And you can travel to very distant corners of Finland this way without moving away from your computer. How tempting!

Dental care in Finland

Once you get your Kela card you are entitled to some of the social security benefits. One of those is right to use health care services. I happen to be the card holder therefore I decided to see the dentist finally. It turned out that waiting time is half a year! Horribly long queue. I signed up since the only other choice I had was private dental care which even if partly subsided by state is still really expensive. In case your tooth hurts there is a solution for that in form of dental emergency system that you can usually get an appointment the same day.

Back to my experiences. I finally managed to wait that half a year and got everything fixed in two visits. I was pleased that this is over - it wasn't very pleasurable experience. Not for long I could enjoy having all teeth fixed - after one month one of the fillings fell out. Luckily I managed get to the dentist the same day, but it turned out that I had to pay once more for fixing the same tooth! Outrageous.

When complaining to my friend about that she started to doubt if the public health care is really less expensive and isn't it reasonable to use private dental care. I calculated all of the expenses (you pay separately for coming to the dentist, material, anaesthetics etc.) and it turned out that actually private cost could be very similar. So despite I pay taxes I think I will use private dental care only. I hope they don't charge their clients for fixing the same tooth twice...